Weekend Watch: Strays, Puppy Love
Two very different shaggy dog stories
Image Credit: Universal Pictures
Welcome to the latest edition of Weekend Watch, in which I recommend (or occasionally warn against) movies or TV shows I’ve been checking out. This week, it’s all dogs, all the time. Follow James on Twitter: @jamwhite and Threads/Instagram: @jammerwhite
I’ve always considered myself more of a cat person than a dog person. Don’t misunderstand –– I love dogs and have looked after many in my time. But there was (and is) always something about earning the love and trust of a cat that spoke to me.
Still, now living with my first puppy (find Penny lurking at the bottom of the page), I am more firmly in the dog camp.
So, a dog-centric edition of the column seems appropriate for the weekend my canine companion turns one.
First up, we have the latest Universal project from Phil Lord and Chris Miller following Cocaine Bear earlier this year, which I saw and enjoyed. This time, the proven producers have Josh Greenbaum, who made the excellent Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar in 2021, in the director’s chair and American Vandal creator Dan Perrault on script duty.
The animal theme continues with Strays, which brings a rude, crude and reliably entertaining tone to the sort of canine cinema many grew up with. It was perhaps only a matter of time before the likes of Homeward Bound and more recent efforts such as A Dog’s Purpose got the adult humour treatment and Strays manages to balance both the filthy quips and poop jokes with a healthy dollop of heart.
This is the story of Reggie (voiced by Will Ferrell), a sunny Border Terrier who lives with Doug (Will Forte), a weed-loving, porn-obsessed loser who treats Reggie abysmally and is always trying to abandon him.
When Doug’s latest attempt succeeds, Reggie ends up a stray on the streets of a city he doesn’t know. Convinced it’s just the latest round of game he thinks Doug is playing, Reggie tries to figure out how to get home. But he then meets Bug (Jamie Foxx), a street-savvy Boston Terrier convinced that humans are the problem. Bug introduces Reggie to his friends Hunter (a nervy Great Dane who failed police dog training and now works as a therapy dog in a hospice, voiced by Randall Park) and the Isla Fisher-voiced Maggie, a smart Australian Shepherd with a superior nose for tracking.
The four pups are the delightful, foul-mouthed (mostly Bug) core of the film, bonding quickly and having adventures. An incredible amount of work has been done between trained dogs and impressive CG mouth manipulation to bring the movie to life. It’s very, very funny in places and even when it doesn’t work as well, you’re quickly on to something that does.
True, some of the doggie jokes feel like a variant on very well-used concepts, and there’s only so far the gross-out gags can take you, but the film works hard to bring the emotional level up and have you care about the furry foursome.
Certainly not family-friendly, then (unless your family is the one from The Aristocrats), but certainly worthy of a watch.
Strays is in UK and US cinemas now.
Image Credit: Amazon Freevee
On a very different scale, boasting a much cuddlier rom-com tone (albeit with some wilder elements) is Puppy Love, starring The Flash’s Grant Gustin and Lucy Hale of Pretty Little Liars and the big screen likes of Truth Or Dare.
In the sort of set-up that edges towards being Hallmark TV movie level, we meet wild child Nicole (Hale) and socially anxious Max (Grant Gustin), who vow to lose each other’s numbers after a genuinely disastrous first date. Until that is, they learn that their dogs found a love match, and now puppies are on the way… The mismatched pair is forced to become responsible co-parents but may end up finding love themselves.
I won’t ruin the ending for you (you can probably guess), but this is one of those journey-not-destinations stories where following the characters is the point, not wondering if it’ll all end happily.
Gustin and Hale, are, of course, very likeable leads, and the dogs are cute. The story is so featherlight a slight breeze would blow it away, but that’s not too important. Again, the dogs are cute.
It’s hardly the newest take on that well-worn, mismatched couple concept (and there is an honestly ridiculous reason for the accidental doggy pregnancy involving a seemingly incompetent vet played by Michael Hitchcock). Still, at least the story rattles along inoffensively enough.
And again: the dogs. Cute.
Puppy Love is on Amazon Freevee now.
And now… Meet Penny Lane. Happy birthday, kid.
